Super Bowl

Super Bowl Advertising Effectiveness: Hollywood Finds the Games Golden

RAMA YELKUR University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire yelkurr@uwec.edu CHUCK TOMKOVICK University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire tomkovcl@uwec.edu PATTY TRACZYK University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire PMTraczyk@hormel.com

Super Bowl advertising receives considerable media attention each year, in part, because of the large TV audience the event attracts. Since 2000, advertisers have spent an average of over $2 million to run 30-second advertisements in these games. The question is often asked: “Are these ads worth it?” This study examines Super Bowl advertising effectiveness from the Hollywood movie industry’s perspective. Results indicate that the average Super Bowl promoted film achieved twice as much first weekend, first week, and total U.S. box office revenue than its average non-Super Bowl promoted movie counterpart for the years 1998–2001. When all movies with production budgets of $35 million or more and U.S. release dates within 7 months of the 1998–2001 Super Bowls were considered, Super Bowl promoted movies grossed nearly 40 percent more than non-Super Bowl promoted movies. Conclusions are drawn and future research directions are outlined.

THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE’S annual Super Bowl game is a major television event infused with hype, game heroics, and elaborate halftime concerts. The Super Bowl has become so ingrained in the U.S. culture that nearly all the top 10 most-watched television programs in American broadcasting history are Super Bowl broadcasts (Tomkovick, Yelkur, and Christians, 2001). Not only is the Super Bowl a megamedia event in the United States and around the world, this annual telecast is a “media happening” that transcends all demographic groups. Super Bowl advertising is also the premier advertising vehicle with American adults under 35, a fact that is not lost on the major Hollywood studios whose success depends in large part on convincing young audiences to attend their...